When I sawTommy slip away after DiAngelo, I had to follow. I wish I hadn’t. The first words out of my brother’s mouth drench me in ice-cold mortification.
I knew that Tommy likely assumed DiAngelo and I were screwing. DiAngelo is supposed to be guarding me twenty-four seven, after all. But a part of me had hoped Tommy might think DiAngelo had brought in another woman for sex. That little delusion has died.
If Tommy knows it was me, does that mean he heard me, too?
Oh dear God.
I’ll never be able to look him in the eyes again.
I should go. I should walk right out of this hospital and bury myself under a rock where no one will ever find me. I want to, but I can’t. I can’t make myself budge when I hear DiAngelo’s vicious response from where I stand, hidden around the corner.
“You’re talking about things you don’t know shit about.”
“I know you, and I know what I heard.”
“Oh yeah, what do you know about me?” DiAngelo’s voice goes deadly calm, like a jungle cat quietly readying to pounce.
“I know you get off on dominating women.”
Hearing him say that makes me feel so small and embarrassed, yet I never felt remotely belittled by DiAngelo, even when I was on my knees. Quite the opposite. Every second of his attention was founded in reverence and admiration. I felt cherished in his eyes, so much so that the implication of him doing those things with other women sends a jealous heat from my neck to my face.
“That right?” DiAngelo snaps back. “And here I was believing Renzo when he said you’re the smartest man he knows.”
“You saying you’re not taking advantage of her just because she’s weak and alone?”
My entire body recoils at Tommy’s assessment of me, though I don’t have time to dwell because next I hear sounds of a scuffle. The thud of a body slamming into a wall hits my ears. I can’t resist a peek.
DiAngelo uses his impressive size to pin my brother up against the wall, balanced on his tippy-toes. “You say whatever the fuck you want about me. I can take it. But I won’t hesitate to rip out your goddamn tongue if you talk about your sister like that again. You understand me?”
I’m stunned speechless.
Considering DiAngelo’s cool demeanor since the phone call, I didn’t expect such an ardent defense. It’s oddly soothing. Nothing’s changed, but knowing D doesn’t think I’m pathetic helps.
The two men begin to talk quietly such that I can’t hear them. And when DiAngelo lowers Tommy back to his feet, I decide it’s time to disappear. I hurry back to the waiting area and start scrolling on my phone as though I’d been doing that the entire time DiAngelo was gone.
When he returns, he brings me my water, then sits on the opposite side of the room and doesn’t look at me. I know because I keep checking. I can’t help myself. His normally olive complexion is noticeably red, and his muscled shoulders look coiled with tension.
What I wouldn’t give to eavesdrop on his thoughts right now.
His declaration that our sexy exchange was a mistake felt like a rejection. I had to agree because I didn’t want to sound wounded and weak. Plus, a part of me knows it’s probably for the best we’re not together. But would I have said it was a mistake? I’m not so sure.
Is that truly how he feels?
Does it matter? This is for the best, remember?
Ugh, I don’t know. It’s definitely embarrassing for my family to know. And I don’t want anyone to think I’ve degraded myself, including me. But if what we did was wrong, why did it feel so right?
I don’t have any concrete answers, though I do obsess over the questions between updates on the progress of Shae’s labor. Being the badass that she is, she has the baby surprisingly quickly. We should have known.
Liora Aine Donati is born at 8:55 p.m. at 6 lbs, 5oz.
She’s absolutely perfect with jet-black hair and a round, cherubic face that brings tears to my eyes. The new parents are blissfully happy and equally exhausted, so we don’t hang around for long.
Back home at DiAngelo’s apartment, I’m suffocated by a flood of emotion. Something about being alone with him again, and the haunting lack of distractions, has a rising panic constricting around my chest.
What happens now?
Will he ignore me?
